Most university students use reading week to study or go on a quick vacation, but not the members of Pocket Change, a Winnipeg rock band. While their peers were hitting the books or the ski slopes this past February, the band members were busy recording their new EP, Party Culture.

Ben Borne, 24, who self-identifies as gay, was talking to Krista Loewen and Joe Heikman, his co-pastors and friends, after attending a Mennonite Church Saskatchewan meeting to discuss its Safe Church Policy when Borne was condemned on the basis of his sexual orientation.

“We know our lifestyle in North America far exceeds what the rest of the world enjoys. Building a tiny house is a small protest against that," say Jared and Rachel Regier. (Photo courtesy of Rachel and Jared Regier)

Jared and Rachel Regier are in the process of building their tiny house. (Photo courtesy of Rachel and Jared Regier)

Jared Regier designed their tiny house. (Photo courtesy of Rachel and Jared Regier)

Newlyweds Jared and Rachel Regier are building a new home in Saskatoon . . . and it’s no bigger than a garage.

The couple, who attend Nutana Park Mennonite Church, call it their “tiny house.” Jared, 35, designed it, and he and Rachel, 29, are building it from the ground up, all 14 square-metres (150 square feet) of it.

As a student at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ont., I was taught to care about the well-being of others. When I graduated in 2009, I originally planned to pursue social development studies at the University of Waterloo, Ont., since I figured that working towards societal change would be a good way of doing that.

Video games are fun. They can be seen as an escape from reality, but often provide an opportunity to overcome challenges. Many of them are violent. However, for every violent shoot-’em-up, there exists Goat Simulator or 10 business management games. A wide variety of genres exist for players both young and old.

The morning begins with many hugs, some handshakes and the hearty, infectious laugh of Kathy Giesbrecht, or “Kathy G.” as many refer to Mennonite Church Manitoba’s energetic associate director of leadership ministries. There is a sense of reunification as we tell stories of our summers and new things that are happening in our lives this fall.

Did you know that there’s an illustrated Bible that retells the stories in Scripture using Lego? The Brick Testament is a series by a man in California named Brendan Powell Smith, who has spent thousands of dollars using those small, colourful bricks recreating biblical stories and then photographing them.

A 50th wedding anniversary traditionally calls for a gift of gold, but Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba is getting something a little different for their 50th anniversary. Theatre of the Beat is preparing a play in honour of the relief and development organization.

It’s easy to get fed up with talking about things while studying in college or university; the desire to do something hands-on can be overwhelming. When my religious studies professor told me about a three-week learning tour of Israel and Palestine called Yella, organized, by Mennonite Central Committee Ontario and Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, I didn’t hesitate to sign up.

Seth Ratzlaff was part of a group of young adults who travelled to the Middle East in 2012 for a three-week Israeli-Palestinian learning tour. ‘I would love to go back,’ Ratzlaff writes. (Photo courtesy of Seth Ratzlaff)

It’s easy to get fed up with talking about things while studying in college or university; the desire to do something hands-on can be overwhelming. When my religious studies professor told me about a three-week learning tour of Israel and Palestine called Yella, organized, by Mennonite Central Committee Ontario and Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, I didn’t hesitate to sign up.

I have loved Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) thrift stores since I was a kid. An essential part of my childhood revolved around a big, old “tickle trunk” filled with frilly pink bridesmaids dresses, cut-off pirate pants, and scarves in all shapes, sizes and colours. These treasures were discovered in the racks at the Vancouver store.

On their 20-day cycling trip from Bemidji, Minn., to Waterloo, Ont., earlier this year, Jami Reimer and Thomas Krause heard the chorus of bullfrogs, birds and rushing water. These melodies stood in stark contrast with the thunder of cars and trucks on the highways.

This past May, I was part of a group of 10 students from Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg and Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., that travelled to Iran to observe the sixth Shi’i Islam-Mennonite Christian dialogue.

I used to think I’d be flattered if evangelists targeted me. When someone tried to convert me to their belief system, I would surely see it as a selfless act borne out of genuine concern for my eternal destiny.

On Friday, May 23, 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people at the University of California Santa Barbara before he turned the gun on himself. In his manifesto, he stated he did so because women wouldn’t sleep with him.

A march against rape culture and inequality (Credit: Chase Carter, CreativeCommons.org, CC by ND 2.0)

On Friday, May 23, 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people at the University of California Santa Barbara before he turned the gun on himself. In his manifesto, he stated he did so because women wouldn’t sleep with him.

A Year of Reading Biblically (YORB) continues, and if you are following the reading schedule, you’re somewhere in Jeremiah by now. The year is more than half over, and I thought it would be fun to speak with some fellow YORB participants to hear about their experience so far.